Bucks Gaming falls to Sixers affiliate in regular season opener, 80-71

Bucks Gaming dropped their first regular season game to the Sixers affiliate on Friday night by the score of 80-71.

Much like the real-life Milwaukee Bucks, Bucks Gaming were plagued by over-rotations on defense and stagnant offense in the half-court as they got their regular season underway on Friday.

As they did in the Tip-off Tournament, Bucks Gaming showed promise all around but couldn’t quite put it together for a complete performance as they had to settle for an opening loss.

Summary

The first quarter was slightly tentative from both teams, who were feeling each other out in what was the first game ever between the two teams. Sixers GC produced a lead off of a couple of open threes that were more given up by the Bucks than earned. Luckily, the Bucks were able to regain some momentum as the period finished at 17-13 with a quick layup in the paint from oLarry.

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However, in the second quarter, the Sixers started producing more open shots thanks to excellent play from their point guard, Radiant, who had won the MVP award at the Tip-off Tournament. He sliced up the Bucks defense in the half-court via some wing pick and roll action with his big man, Steez, that usually produced a deep three or a layup.

For the Bucks, Peroxide had a dominant second quarter, at one point scoring five straight buckets in the paint and finishing with 24 points in the half.

Unfortunately, the Sixers were perfectly willing to trade those twos for threes of their own, and they succeeded in limiting the other Bucks players, resulting in a 60-50 halftime lead. The main statistical difference in the period was three-point shooting and turnovers. The Sixers were 6-of-10 from three-point range, compared to 1-of-4 from the Bucks, and had four steals while leading the game in rebounds and assists as well.

From there on out, the Sixers put the game in cruise control, holding the lead at about 10 points consistently by simply answering every bucket from the Bucks. Peroxide brought it to within six at one point, but the Bucks immediately gave up an open three to Sixers shooting guard ZDS, and the Bucks stayed down 60-50 at the end of the third.

There were a few bright spots in the fourth, as new starter BigMeek scored inside a couple times, bringing his score on the day to 11, and Peroxide continued his dominance, but the Bucks couldn’t get a stop, and a ZDS three from the top of the key with about a minute left was the dagger at 77-64.

Peroxide finished his day with a beautiful and-one Eurostep from the free throw line soon after, and the game finished at 80-71.

Analysis

Big Meek finished with 11, and Peroxide set the scoring high mark of the league so far with 41, but nobody broke double-digit scoring outside of those two. Their Sixers counterparts had a much more balanced attack, getting 18 points and 12 assists from Radiant, 27 from ZDS on 6-of-8 three-point shooting, and 9, 11, and 15 points from Newdini, iFeast, and Steez respectively.

The moves to play BigMeek as a sharpshooting rim protector, and oLarry as a slashing stretch five, were great strategical moves that allowed the Bucks to drastically improve their spacing from last weekend.

BigMeek responded well to being placed in the starting lineup by essentially being the second option for the Bucks, but oLarry only scored seven points on five shots. He didn’t play poorly by any measure but will need to get used to finding his shot outside his paint-centric comfort zone.

The excellent team defense displayed during the Tip-off Tournament was less consistent on Friday, as there were breakdowns in pick-and-roll defense that led to over-rotations on the perimeter and open jumpers.

As a team, Bucks Gaming actually shot a higher percentage than Sixers GC, shooting 31-of-43 compared to 33-of-54, but were simply at a disadvantage scoring from three, as the Sixers dropped 11 perimeter jumpers compared to just four from the Bucks.

The other major statistical explanation for the loss was eight turnovers for the Bucks, which is costly in a game of six minute quarters — teams have to take care of the ball, because there are already fewer possessions than usual.

Drake finished with eight points and six assists, with only two turnovers, but one has to feel that the Bucks are lacking ball movement that traditionally comes from the point guard position.

In his pro career Drake has shifted from his normal position of shooting guard that he played before the draft, and without any other excellent facilitators on the roster, the Bucks Gaming group looked a lot like the real-life Bucks on a bad day: Peroxide (analogous to Giannis here) taking somebody in an iso, and the other players standing and watching.

The Sixers showed that the path to success in this season will be good guard play and ball movement. Bucks shooting guard Procis1on hit two of his three shots, but as the team’s designated sharpshooter, he needs to get more looks.

Nobody really played poorly on offense for the bucks – 71 points is a solid performance, and Peroxide was so efficient (20-of-24 shooting) that the unbalanced attack wasn’t really the right problem, but they need to rediscover that defense that flashed potential in the Tip-off.

Next: Bucks Gaming has official debut in NBA 2K League’s Tip-off Tournament

Next Friday at 6pm CT, the Bucks have a rematch with Pistons GT.